Give us deputy Education Minister – Private schools tells govt

The Executive Director of Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS), Enoch Gyetuah has asked the central government to appoint a deputy Education Minister to manage the affairs of private education in the country.

Speaking at the Education Leadership and Common Core training seminar for private school owners, Obengfo Kwasi Gyetuah said the move will help the government to rectify and solve challenges of private schools in the country

“The private education sector employs 300,000 teachers so it is time for the government to reconsider appointing a deputy minister designated for private education so that matters concerning private education can easily be resolved

This will enhance coordination between the government and private schools and enhance productivity in the private educational sector,” the National Director of the Private School Council told stakeholders at the Leadership training.

In other news, the National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) has urged the government to break the monopoly currently enjoy by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) responsible for the conduct of BECE for School.

Citing discrimination against students from private schools, GNACOPS has alleged that the non-profit-making organization deliberately mark down their BECE scripts, an act it say is a calculated attempt to collapse private schools.

In an discussion monitored by AcademicWeek, the Director for Private Schools, Mr Gyetuah said the 70 year old West African Examinations Council has outperformed it’s mandate, thus the need to introduce a new examination body.

“It is now clear that the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is incompetent, there is no need for us to pay them as a body responsible to assess our students. They have outlived their time,” the Private Schools Director stressed.

According to him, a new examining board when constituted by the central government to break the monopoly currently enjoyed by WAEC will end the cases of questions leakages and also reduce examination malpractice.

“The kind of paper assessment that WAEC is doing in Ghana is not done anywhere. Any serious country that is involved in educational development will not consider a paper assessment. We are talking about portfolio assessment

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is over 70 years now so they should go for their retirement because whatever we enjoying now is not what we expect from them,” Enoch Kwasi Gyetuah told Citi TV in an interview.